Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 41.djvu/293

Rh glimpses through the rank growth of willows with which the trail was lined. "These glimpses, however, revealed numerous cultivated fields of corn, beans, sunflowers, melons, peaches, apricots, and certain plants used in dyeing and basket-making, and usually carefully protected by hedges of wattled willows or fences of Cottonwood poles. Everywhere these fields were crossed and recrossed by a network of irrigating canals and trails. Here and there were little cabins, or shelters, flat-roofed, dirt-covered, and closed in on three sides by wattled flags, canes, and slender branches, while the front was protected by a hedge like those of the fields, only taller, placed a few feet before the house, and between which and the house burned smoky fires. The houses were always nestled down among the thick willows bordering the river, or perched on some convenient shelf, under the shadows of the western precipices." Little buildings of stone laid in mud plaster, somewhat like the cliff dwellings, were also seen in the horizontal cracks of the western cliffs, often high up. These Indians have medicine-men, use the sweat-house, possess many dogs, have considerable families, and are on good terms with the whites.

The Purposes and Arrangement of Museums.—The museums of the future in this country, says G. Brown Goode, "should be adapted to the needs of the mechanic, the factory operator, the day laborer, the salesman, and the clerk, as much as to those of the professional man and the man of leisure. It is proper that the laboratories be utilized to the fullest extent for the credit of the institution to which they belong. No museum can grow and be respected which does not each year give additional proofs of its claims to be considered a center of learning. On the other hand, the public have a right to ask that much shall be done directly in their interest. They will gladly allow the museum officer to use part of his time in study and experiment. They will take pride in the possession by the museum of tens of thousands of specimens, interesting only to the specialist, hidden away perpetually from public view, but necessary for purposes of scientific research. These are foundations of the intellectual superstructure which gives the institution its standing. Still, no pains must be spared in the presentation of the material in the exhibition halls. The specimens must be prepared in the most careful and artistic manner, and arranged attractively in well-designed cases and behind the clearest of glass. Each object must bear a label, giving its name and history so fully that all the probable questions of the visitor are answered in advance. Books of reference must be kept in convenient places. Colors of walls, cases, and labels must be restful and quiet, and comfortable seats should be everywhere accessible, for the task of the museum visitor is a weary one at best. In short, the public museum is, first of all, for the benefit of the public. When the officers are few in number, each one must of necessity devote a considerable portion of his time to the public halls. When the staff becomes larger, it is possible by specialization of work to arrange that certain men may devote their time uninterruptedly to laboratory work, while others are engaged in the increase of the collections and their installation."

The Technical School at St. Etienne, France.—At the technical school in St. Etienne, France, according to the United States consul in that city, three hundred students are taught weaving, dyeing, sculpture, iron-founding, cabinet-making, and other arts, free of charge. The apprenticeship course lasts four years, and after completing it a certificate of aptitude is given, under which the pupil may obtain a situation in the line of industrial labor he has chosen. In the first year the students pass through all the workshops, to be initiated into the proper handling of the different tools. After that, the boys are classed according to their tastes, desires, and aptitudes. They work at manual labor three hours daily during the second year, four hours in the third, and five hours in the first and seven in the last six months of the fourth and last year. Great attention is paid to the teaching of the theory of the different trades, the fitters being taught to trace and cut out cog-wheels, and the carpenters to design and execute a certain number of works, such as stairs of different kinds, shutters, balconies, etc., on a reduced scale. The weavers are also given special lessons in book-keeping,